Usher and Chris Brown canceled their Nov. 16 SoFi and Dec. 6 Miami shows. Here is what's confirmed, what's rumor, and what ticket holders should do.
Usher and Chris Brown have canceled two more stadium dates on their R&B Tour: Nov. 16 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, and Dec. 6 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. According to Billboard and the Los Angeles Times, Ticketmaster showed both as canceled on Wednesday, Nov. 11, with no reason given and no statement from either singer as of Thursday. The tour is not over. The rest of the schedule is still listed, and it is due to end Dec. 12 in Tampa.
Which Usher and Chris Brown shows are canceled?
Six shows are now off the tour, per Billboard, and all six come from the dates added in August to extend the run. Four were called off in October in Baltimore, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Columbia, South Carolina. Tour organizers said at the time they wanted to "prioritize the health and well-being of the touring party and crew," Billboard reports, citing Complex. The Los Angeles Times notes those cancellations came around the date of Brown's sentencing in a U.K. court case.
The two newest cancellations are the Nov. 16 SoFi Stadium show and the Dec. 6 Miami show. The Times says both have also disappeared from the tour's official site. The duo already played two SoFi shows in September, and the Los Angeles Times says one SoFi date, Nov. 15, is still on the schedule.
Why were the shows canceled?
Nobody involved has said. What exists is reporting and talk. TMZ reported that Usher and Brown argued backstage before the Nov. 5 Atlanta opener over when to start, with Usher reportedly wanting to go on and Brown reportedly wanting to wait for fans stuck in traffic, according to the Los Angeles Times. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, as relayed by Billboard, reported that show began well over two hours late and that the two did not perform together. The Times adds that the pair have reportedly not made up.
That is all secondhand and unconfirmed. We are treating the feud and every other explanation, including any theory about ticket sales, as rumor until Live Nation or either artist speaks.
What should ticket holders do now?
If you bought for either canceled date, you should not need to chase anyone. ABC7 Los Angeles reports that refunds are available, and USA Today quotes ticketing language saying money goes back to the original payment method once the funds arrive from the event organizer. Check your Ticketmaster account for the status of your order before you do anything else, and do not pay a reseller who offers to "transfer" a canceled seat.
If you have tickets to a date that is still listed, the Times names these remaining stops: SoFi on Nov. 15, two shows in Miami Gardens on Dec. 3 and Dec. 5, and the finale at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Dec. 12. Billboard counts nine dates left in total, and we could not verify the full list from the tour's site, which only links to Ticketmaster. Confirm your date there on the day, and again if the weather or news turns. Dates on this tour have changed with little warning.
What is confirmed and what is not
- Confirmed by listings and reports: the Nov. 16 SoFi and Dec. 6 Hard Rock shows are marked canceled on Ticketmaster.
- Not confirmed: why. Neither artist, nor Live Nation, has commented in the reports we read.
- Not confirmed: whether more dates will go. The remaining shows are still on sale.
Our take
Six cancellations on a tour that, per Billboard Boxscore, was the top-grossing run of September, with $77.4 million from 423,000 tickets across 10 shows, is a lot of churn. Every one of the dropped dates is a late add, which suggests the original schedule is holding and the extension is what is wobbling. Still, fans who bought stadium tickets deserve a plain explanation, and the silence is doing the rumor mill's work for it.
Related reading
Picture credit: Live Nation / The R&B Tour
